25 years ago: Court enters not guilty plea for Lawrence transient charged with murder

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 8, 1989:

Appearing in court this week, the attorney for John William told District Judge James Paddock that his client would not enter pleas to charges against him but would instead stand mute and let the court enter his pleas. Paddock then entered pleas of not guilty to charges of first-degree murder or, in the alternative, felony murder and felony aggravated kidnapping, and a jury trial was scheduled for March in the case of the murder of nine-year-old Richard Settlemyre. After being ushered into the courtroom, William broke his silence as he picked up a legal pad and threw it across the room, saying, “I never did a damn thing to nobody. Just try to be myself and help others.” His two attorneys tried to calm him later as he insisted, “I’m going to hire me a private investigator to find Richard’s killer instead of being criticized for something I didn’t do.” As he was being taken from the courtroom, William turned to a group of reporters there and said, “You just keep lying…. I hope you burn and fry.” William remained in custody on $1 million bond.